Farm forestry has the potential to provide multiple natural resource management (NRM) benefits through ameliorating issues such as salinity, waterlogging, and water quality, and enhancing habitat, as well as producing timber for firewood and sawlog applications for diversification of farm income. Indirect benefits also include the:

• reduced pressure on native vegetation (and therefore habitats) resulting from the production of plantation firewood and sawlog timber;
• carbon sequestration offsetting greenhouse gas emissions over the life of the forest rotation;
• opportunity to link patches of remnant native vegetation and serve as biodiversity corridors; and
• create shade and shelter for stock.

Private Forestry Kangaroo Island (PFKI) is the peak industry body for plantation and farm forestry on the Island. PFKI received National Landcare Program (NLP) funding through the KI NRM Board for the project “Farm Forestry for Multiple Benefits”. With the support of PIRSA the project aimed to assist landholders with the development of farm forestry plantings on cleared agricultural land for multiple NRM benefits on Kangaroo Island by:

• promoting the uptake of farm forestry for multiple benefits, contributing to regional resource condition targets and diversifying farm income through timber production;
• assisting landholders to develop farm forestry plantings to suit property and enterprise requirements and;
• providing interested landholders with the required technical and coordination support to achieve quality farm forestry plantings.

Species were selected on the basis of growth rate and tree form, site suitability, potential wood products, the level of management required.

Suitable species included: